Ticketmaster lifts curtain on Broadway instalment plans

Ticketmaster has launched a ‘buy now, pay later’ ticketing payment option for Hamilton and a dozen other Broadway shows.

The method of payment will allow theatregoers to pay the price of their tickets over a six-month or year-long period.

However, with this option there will be an annual interest rate that starts at 10 per cent and would double to 20 per cent should the initial promotion lapse.

Two orchestra seats to watch Hamilton at a New York City theatre would cost fans upwards of $1,551, including Ticketmaster fees. With the ‘buy now, pay later’ option, people will be able to break the cost down into 12 monthly payments of $138 instead.

The musicals available on the instalment plan include Mean Girls, Frozen, The Lion King and Book of Mormon, among others, along with pop concerts and Michelle Obama’s book tour.

The ‘FlexPay’ loans are issued by the Salt Lake City-based WebBank, and facilitated by the Swedish payments technology firm Klarna, according to Ticketmaster’s site.

Ticketmaster hasn’t promoted FlexPay beyond a blog post in August, while a Klarna spokeswoman confirmed to the Broadway Journal its involvement but declined to be interviewed, citing “confidentiality clauses as this product is still in testing.”

In the past decade, the average Broadway ticket increased 62 per cent to $123, according to Broadway League figures.